Staff Systems Engineer - Passive Sensing Lead
Northrop Grumman
- Location
- United States-Maryland-Baltimore
- Work model
- On-Site
- Level
- Staff
- Posted
- Aug 20, 2026
About this role
RELOCATION ASSISTANCE: Relocation assistance may be available CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR START: Yes CLEARANCE TYPE: Secret TRAVEL: Yes, 10% of the Time Description At Northrop Grumman, our employees have incredible opportunities to work on revolutionary systems that impact people's lives around the world today, and for generations to come. Our pioneering and inventive spirit has enabled us to be at the forefront of many technological advancements in our nation's history - from the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, to stealth bombers, to landing on the moon. We look for people who have bold new ideas, courage and a pioneering spirit to join forces to invent the future, and have fun along the way. Our culture thrives on intellectual curiosity, cognitive diversity and bringing your whole self to work — and we have an insatiable drive to do what others think is impossible. Our employees are not only part of history, they're making history. At the heart of Defining Possible is our commitment to missions. In rapidly changing global security environments, Northrop Grumman brings informed insights and software-secure technology to enable strategic planning. We’re looking for innovators who can help us keep building on our wide portfolio of secure, affordable, integrated, and multi-domain systems and technologies that fuel those missions. By joining in our shared mission, we’ll support yours of expanding your personal network and developing skills, whether you are new to the field, or an industry thought leader. At Northrop Grumman, you’ll have the resources, support, and team to do some of the best work of your career. The EOIR team anticipates a near-term need for a Staff Systems Engineer to work as the Technical Lead in performing sensor architecture and system development work associated with advanced electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensing. The candidate selected will work across a range of programs to solve disparate challenges while leveraging core knowledge, skills, tools, algorithms, and more. This person will coordinate with architects for program-specific implementations and will be expected to have regular technical interactions with the customers , as well as provid ing technical mentoring to junior staff. A s our program scope expands, we have the need for more talent, so c ome join us for this 100% on-site position from Linthicum, MD! What You’ll Get To Do: The family of EOIR programs has a growing set of efforts on both the passive and active sides. This role will focus on system architecture and definition for passive systems. The ideal candidate would have experience in hardware selection for airborne sensors, including optics, dewars, focal planes, processors, and more; data processing and exploitation, including real-time analysis, ground tests, anomaly resolution, and algorithm development; integration and test experience, including brassboards , lab/ground tests, and flight tests; and software/firmware interactions , to understand how the system actually implements and realizes the work. T he team has subject matter experts in these areas, so the candidate selected will need to be able to work with those SMEs to ensure the selected approach meets the customer’s and user’s needs . These are developmental systems and concepts, meaning that you will help develop the systems and methods that future generations will rely on. As part of your regular work, y ou will lead interactions with external customers and internal leaders, building trust through communicating the technical achievements and capabilities of the team A strong candidate for this role has experience in airborne and/or space-based EOIR sensors, experience developing and demonstrating passive imaging optical sensors , experience leading teams to